The Reef (Haifa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: we’re looking at a pretty grim 16-day window for The Reef in Haifa. If you’ve got a kite or a wing, you might find something to do, but for a paddle surfer, this stretch is a write-off.

The overall pattern is flat and weak. There’s no real swell energy to speak of, and the wind is almost always wrong. The water temperature is sitting at 84°F with a positive anomaly of 3°F, so it’s a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – nice for a swim, but that’s about it.

The first afternoon, Thursday the 30th of July, gives us a tiny 2ft swell from the west-northwest, but with a short period of 7 seconds and an onshore wind from the west-northwest at 9 mph. The combined energy is a measly 35 – that’s weak. It’s labelled as poor surf, and it is. The rest of the week follows the same script: tiny heights between 1ft and 2ft, periods of 4 to 8 seconds, and cross-on to onshore winds. The combined energy never gets out of the double digits, mostly sitting between 16 and 71. Every single session in the finder is marked as “poor surf conditions.” There is no standout session at all.

We then go through all of the first week of August, into the second week, and it’s the same story. The swell is tiny, the period is short, and the wind is kicking up chop. The energy levels drop even further towards the end, with the last few days seeing combined energy values of just 1, 3, and 7. By Friday the 14th of August, the swell is down to 0.3ft to 0.7ft. There’s nothing to ride.

The Reef (Haifa) is a beach and reef setup that’s exposed to a west swell, but it’s inconsistent, and with these conditions, it’s not even breaking. The optimum swell is from the west, but we’re getting dribbles from the west-northwest with no power. The wind is almost always from the northwest to west-northwest, which is onshore or cross-onshore, tearing up what little surface there is.

If you absolutely have to get wet, the best you'll get is Friday morning the 31st of July, with a 2ft swell and a light cross-on wind from the southwest at 3 mph. The combined energy is 71 – still weak, but it’s the least bad of the lot. It’s still poor surf, so don’t expect much.

Honestly, this is a blank run. For the area, this kind of flat spell is more normal than not. Forecasts can change, but right now, I’d leave the boards at home and go for a swim in that warm water.

Rusty.

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